Multifunction document reproduction devices are widely used in the corporate and professional office environments. One such corporate office building may have dozens of different types of diverse multifunction devices with each device requiring a steady supply of, for example, toner, cartridges, copier paper and other media, staples, replacement parts, and the like. Such supplies are often referred to as consumables because these are consumed during the operation of the device and must be resupplied on a recurring basis. A key operator or manager in charge of maintaining the supply for each device is often responsible for reordering supplies. It may be difficult for the key operator or manager to keep track of which supplies are associated with each multifunction document reproduction device.
When placing the order, the manager must know which specific supplies for which particular multifunction devices need to be ordered at any given time. The placement of a supply order for sophisticated multifunction devices can require detailed knowledge about various supplies and part numbers and the like. This can be an especially tedious and time consuming process for key-operators and other managers of large fleets of multifunction devices for which a large volume of differing supplies must be maintained and readily available for use.
Given that many managers of such multifunction devices today carry a wireless handheld cellular device, what is needed are methods which facilitate the placement of orders for supplies for fleets of multifunction devices via their mobile wireless handsets.